WEST VIRGINIA CODE











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WVC 2-

CHAPTER 2. COMMON LAW, STATUTES, LEGAL HOLIDAYS, DEFINITIONS AND LEGAL CAPACITY.

WVC -2-

ARTICLE 2. LEGAL HOLIDAYS; SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAYS; CONSTRUCTION OF

STATUTES; DEFINITIONS.







WVC 2 - 2 - 1

§2-2-1. Legal holidays; official acts or court proceedings.

(a) The following days are legal holidays:

(1) The first day of January is "New Year's Day";

(2) The third Monday of January is "Martin Luther King's

Birthday";

(3) The third Monday of February is "Presidents' Day";

(4) The last Monday in May is "Memorial Day";

(5) The twentieth day of June is "West Virginia Day";

(6) The fourth day of July is "Independence Day";

(7) The first Monday of September is "Labor Day";

(8) The second Monday of October is "Columbus Day";

(9) The eleventh day of November is "Veterans' Day";

(10) The fourth Thursday of November is "Thanksgiving Day";

(11) The day after Thanksgiving Day is "Lincoln's Day";

(12) The twenty-fifth day of December is "Christmas Day";

(13) Any day on which a general, primary or special election

is held is a holiday throughout the state, a political subdivision

of the state, a district or an incorporated city, town or village

in which the election is conducted;

(14) General election day on even years shall be designated

Susan B. Anthony Day, in accordance with the provisions of

subsection (b), section one-a of this article; and

(15) Any day proclaimed or ordered by the Governor or the

President of the United States as a day of special observance or

Thanksgiving, or a day for the general cessation of business, is a holiday.

(b) If a holiday otherwise described in subsection (a) of this

section falls on a Sunday, then the following Monday is the legal

holiday. If a holiday otherwise described in subsection (a) of

this section falls on a Saturday, then the preceding Friday is the

legal holiday: Provided, That this subsection (b) shall not apply

to subdivisions (13), (14) and (15), subsection (a) of this

section.

(c) Any day or part thereof designated by the Governor as time

off, without charge against accrued annual leave, for state

employees statewide may also be time off for county employees if

the county commission elects to designate the day or part thereof

as time off, without charge against accrued annual leave for county

employees. Any entire or part statewide day off designated by the

Governor may, for all courts, be treated as if it were a legal

holiday.

(d) In computing any period of time prescribed by any

applicable provision of this code or any legislative rule or other

administrative rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to the

provisions of this code, the day of the act, event, default or

omission from which the applicable period begins to run is not

included. The last day of the period so computed is included,

unless it is a Saturday, a Sunday, a legal holiday or a designated

day off in which event the prescribed period of time runs until the

end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or designated day off.

(e) If any applicable provision of this code or any

legislative rule or other administrative rule or regulation

promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this code designates a

particular date on, before or after which an act, event, default or

omission is required or allowed to occur, and if the particular

date designated falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or

designated day off, then the date on which the act, event, default

or omission is required or allowed to occur is the next day that is

not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or designated day off.

(f) With regard to the courts of this state, the computation

of periods of time, the specific dates or days when an act, event,

default or omission is required or allowed to occur and the

relationship of those time periods and dates to Saturdays, Sundays,

legal holidays, or days designated as weather or other emergency

days pursuant to section two of this article are governed by rules

promulgated by the Supreme Court of Appeals.

(g) The provisions of this section do not increase or diminish

the legal school holidays provided in section two, article five,

chapter eighteen-a of this code.







WVC 2 - 2 - 1 A

§2-2-1a. Special memorial days.

  (a) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare the week

beginning with the Sunday before Thanksgiving as a special memorial

week to be known as Native American Indian Heritage Week.

  (b) The first Tuesday after the first Monday of November is

designated Susan B. Anthony Day and shall only be a legal holiday

in all years ending in an even number. The Governor shall annually

issue a proclamation calling on all schools, civic organizations,

government departments and citizens to undertake activities on the

designated day and surrounding days to pay tribute to the

accomplishments of Susan B. Anthony in securing the civil and

political rights of all Americans, including securing equal voting

rights for women.

  (c) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare the week

during which December 7 falls to be a special memorial week, to be

known as Pearl Harbor and Military Appreciation week, honoring all

West Virginians who fought in World War II and all other military

conflicts and shall encourage all municipalities in the state to do

the same. The State Department of Education is directed to

implement a program involving activities in which students shall

participate which shall recognize the contributions West Virginians

have made to their country through service in the United States

Military.

  (d) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare March 30 as a special memorial day to be known as Vietnam Veteran Recognition

Day honoring all West Virginians who served in the United States

Armed Forces in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning

February 28, 1961 and ending May 7, 1975, and shall encourage all

counties and municipalities in the state to do the same.

  (e) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare August 7 as

a special memorial day, to be known as Purple Heart Recognition

Day, honoring all West Virginians who, while serving in the United

States Armed Forces, have been wounded or killed in action and

shall encourage all municipalities and counties in the state to do

the same.

  (f) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare July 27 as a

special memorial day to be known as Korean War Veteran Recognition

Day honoring all West Virginians who served in the United States

Armed Forces in the Korean War, and shall encourage all counties

and municipalities in the state to do the same.

  (g) The Governor shall, by proclamation, declare the first

Thursday in May as the West Virginia Day of Prayer. The West

Virginia Day of Prayer corresponds with the National Day of Prayer,

36 U.S.C. §119, on which the people of West Virginia may turn to

God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as

individuals.







WVC 2-2-1b

§2-2-1b.

Repealed.

Acts, 1982 Reg. Sess., Ch. 76.







WVC 2-2-2

§2-2-2. When acts to be done fall on Saturday, Sunday or legal

holiday; adjournments from day to day.

(a) When a proceeding is directed to take place or any act to

be done on any particular day of the month or within any period of

time prescribed or allowed, including those provided by article

two, chapter fifty-five, of this code, if that day or the last day

falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or a weather or other

emergency day, the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal

holiday, or a weather or other emergency day shall be deemed to be

the one intended, and when the day upon which a term of court is

directed by law to commence, falls on a Saturday, Sunday, legal

holiday, or a weather or other emergency day, the following day

that is not a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or a weather or

other emergency day shall be deemed to be the day intended. When

an adjournment is authorized from day to day, an adjournment from

Friday to Monday will be legal.

(b)(1) For purposes of this section, "weather or other

emergency day" means a day designated for a county in accordance

with the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection as a day

upon which weather or other emergency conditions in that county

prevent the general transaction of court business in that county.

(2) A weather or other emergency day is designated by order of

the chief justice of the supreme court of appeals or by order of

the chief judge of the circuit court of the county in which the

proceeding is directed to take place or in which the act is to be done.







WVC 2-2-3

§2-2-3. Computation of time.

The provisions of sections one and two of this article

relating to the time or period prescribed or allowed within which

an act is to be done shall not be deemed to change any rule of law

applicable to bills of exchange or negotiable notes.







WVC 2-2-4

§2-2-4. Month; year; fiscal year.

In a statute the word "month" shall mean a calendar month, and

the word "year" a calendar year; and the word "year" alone shall be

equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord." The fiscal year

for the state, all counties, all districts, all municipalities, all

school districts, all other political subdivisions, and all bodies

or officers, collecting or disbursing public funds, shall begin on

the first day of July and end on the thirtieth day of June.







WVC 2-2-5

§2-2-5. Acts by agent or deputy.

When a statute requires an act to be done by an officer or

person, it shall be sufficient if it be done by his agent or

deputy, unless it be such as cannot lawfully be done by deputation.







WVC 2-2-6

§2-2-6. Seals.

When the seal of the state, or of a court, officer or

corporation is to be affixed to any paper, an impression of such

seal upon the paper shall be sufficient. When the seal of a

natural person is required to a paper, he may affix thereto a

scroll by way of seal, or adopt as his seal any scroll, written,

printed or engraved, made thereon by another.







WVC 2-2-7

§2-2-7. Affirmation equivalent to oath.

A solemn affirmation shall be equivalent to an oath in all

cases, unless otherwise expressly provided, and the word "oath"

shall be deemed to include an affirmation and the word "swear" or

"sworn" to be complied with if the person referred to make solemn

affirmation.







WVC 2-2-8

§2-2-8. Effect of repeal or expiration of law.

The repeal of a law, or its expiration by virtue of any

provision contained therein, shall not affect any offense

committed, or penalty or punishment incurred, before the repeal

took effect, or the law expired, save only that the proceedings

thereafter had shall conform as far as practicable to the laws in

force at the time such proceedings take place, unless otherwise

specially provided; and that if any penalty or punishment be

mitigated by the new law, such new law may, with the consent of the

party affected thereby, be applied to any judgment pronounced after

it has taken effect.







WVC 2-2-9

§2-2-9. Repeal of repealing act.

When a law which has repealed another is itself repealed, the

former law shall not be revived without express words for the

purpose.







WVC 2 - 2 - 10

§2-2-10. Rules for construction of statutes.

The following rules shall be observed in the construction of

statutes, unless a different intent on the part of the Legislature

be apparent from the context:

(a) A word importing the singular number only may be applied

to several persons or things, as well as to one person or thing; a

word importing the plural number only may be applied to one person

or thing as well as to several; and a word importing the masculine

gender only may be applied to females as well as males;

(b) Words purporting to give a joint authority to three or

more persons confer such authority upon a majority of them, and not

upon any less number;

(c) The words "written" or "in writing" include any

representation of words, letters or figures, whether by printing,

engraving, writing or otherwise. But when the signature of any

person is required, it must be in his or her own proper

handwriting, or his or her mark, attested, proved or acknowledged:

Provided, That unless a provision of this code specifically

provides otherwise, an electronic signature satisfies this

signature requirement if the electronic signature meets the

requirements of subsection (a), section three, article five,

chapter thirty nine of this code;

(d) The words "preceding," "succeeding" or "following" used in

reference to any section or sections of a chapter or statute, mean

next preceding, next succeeding or next following that in which such reference is made, unless a different interpretation be

required by the context;

(e) An officer shall be deemed to have qualified when he or

she has done all that is required by law to be done before

proceeding to exercise the authority and discharge the duties of

his or her office;

(f) The words "the governor" are equivalent to "the executive

of the state" or "the person having the executive power";

(g) "Justice" or "justices" as used in article one, chapter

fifty-one of this code and in other references to a member or

members of the supreme court of appeals shall mean and apply to a

judge or the judges of said court as provided for in the

constitution of the state. The word "justice" in any other context

is equivalent to the words "justice of the peace," and the word

"notary" is equivalent to "notary public";

(h) The word "state," when applied to a part of the United

States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of

Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States"

also include the said district and territories;

(i) The word "person" or "whoever" shall include corporations,

societies, associations and partnerships, if not restricted by the

context;

(j) The words "personal representative" include the executor

of a will, the administrator of the estate of a deceased person,

the administrator of such estate with the will annexed, the administrator de bonis non of such estate, whether there be a will

or not, the sheriff or other officer lawfully charged with the

administration of the estate of a deceased person, and every other

curator or committee of a decedent's estate for or against whom

suits may be brought for causes of action which accrued to or

against such decedent;

(k) The word "will" embraces a testament, a codicil, an

appointment by will or writing in the nature of a will in exercise

of a power, also any other testamentary disposition;

(l) The word "judgment" includes decrees and orders for the

payment of money or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal

property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or

recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment;

(m) The words "under disability" include persons under the age

of eighteen years, insane persons, and convicts while confined in

the penitentiary;

(n) The words "insane person" include everyone who has mental

illness as defined in section two, article one, chapter

twenty-seven of this code;

(o) The word "convict" means a person confined in the

penitentiary of this or any other state, or of the United States;

(p) The word "land" or "lands" and the words "real estate" or

"real property" include lands, tenements and hereditaments, all

rights thereto and interests therein except chattel interests;

(q) The words "personal estate" or "personal property" include goods, chattels, real and personal, money, credits, investments and

the evidences thereof;

(r) The word "property" or "estate" embraces both real and

personal estate;

(s) The word "offense" includes every act or omission for

which a fine, forfeiture or punishment is imposed by law;

(t) The expression "laws of the state" includes the

constitution of the state and the constitution of the United

States, and treaties and laws made in pursuance thereof;

(u) The word "town" includes a city, village or town, and the

word "council," any body or board, whether composed of one or more

branches, who are authorized to make ordinances for the government

of a city, town or village;

(v) When a council of a town, city or village, or any board,

number of persons or corporations, are authorized to make

ordinances, bylaws, rules, regulations or orders, it shall be

understood that the same must be consistent with the laws of this

state;

(w) The words "county court" include any existing tribunal

created in lieu of a county court; the words "commissioner of the

county court" and "county commissioner" mean, and have reference

to, the commissioners, or one of them, composing the county court,

in pursuance of section twenty-two, article eight of the

constitution, as amended, or any existing tribunal created in lieu

of a county court;

(x) The word "horse" embraces a stallion, a mare and a

gelding;

(y) The words "railroad" and "railway" shall be construed by

the courts of this state to mean the same thing in law; and, in any

proceeding wherein a railroad company or a railway company is a

party, it shall not be deemed error to call a railroad company a

railway company or vice versa; nor shall any demurrer, plea or any

other defense be set up to a motion, pleading or indictment in

consequence of such misdescription;

(z) The sectional headings or headlines of the several

sections of this code printed in black-faced type are intended as

mere catchwords to indicate the contents of the section and shall

not be deemed or taken to be titles of such sections, or as any

part of the statute, and, unless expressly so provided, they shall

not be so deemed when any of such sections, including the

headlines, are amended or reenacted;

(aa) The words "infant" and "minor" mean persons under the age

of eighteen years as such words are used in this code or in rules

and regulations promulgated by the supreme court of appeals;

(bb) A statute is presumed to be prospective in its operation

unless expressly made retrospective;

(cc) Unless there is a provision in a section, article or

chapter of this code specifying that the provisions thereof shall

not be severable, the provisions of every section, article or

chapter of this code, whether enacted before or subsequent to the effective date of this subdivision, shall be severable so that if

any provision of any such section, article or chapter is held to be

unconstitutional or void, the remaining provisions of such section,

article or chapter shall remain valid, unless the court finds the

valid provisions are so essentially and inseparably connected with,

and so dependent upon, the unconstitutional or void provision that

the court cannot presume the Legislature would have enacted the

remaining valid provisions without the unconstitutional or void

one, or unless the court finds the remaining valid provisions,

standing alone, are incomplete and are incapable of being executed

in accordance with the legislative intent: Provided, That if any

such section, article or chapter of this code has its own

severability clause, then such severability clause shall govern and

control with respect to such section, article or chapter in lieu of

the provisions of this subdivision. The provisions of this

subdivision shall be fully applicable to all future amendments or

additions to this code, with like effect as if the provisions of

this subdivision were set forth in extenso in every such amendment

or addition and were reenacted as a part thereof, unless such

amendment or addition contains its own severability clause;

(dd) A reference to any section, article or chapter of this

code applies to all reenactments, revisions or amendments thereof;

(ee) If a statute refers to a series of numbers or letters,

the first and the last numbers or letters in the series are deemed

to be included;

(ff) The words "board of regents," wherever they appear in the

code, means the board of trustees created by section one, article

one, chapter eighteen-b of this code and the board of directors

created by section one, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this

code unless the term is used in relation to activities conducted

solely by an institution or institutions governed by article two,

chapter eighteen-b of this code in which case it only means the

board of trustees, or where the term is used in relation to

activities conducted solely by an institution or institutions

governed by article three, chapter eighteen-b of the code in which

case it only means the board of directors.







WVC 2-2-11

§2-2-11. Repeal of validating statutes; effect.

The repeal by any provision of this code of a statute

validating previous acts, contracts or transactions shall not

affect the validity of such acts, contracts or transactions, but

the same shall remain as valid as if there had been no such repeal,

but no further.







WVC 2-2-12

§2-2-12. Headlines, etc., not part of act; notes, etc., attached

to bills not to be construed as expressing legislative

intent.

Chapter, article or section headings, headlines or headnotes

of any act of the Legislature, whether in the act at the time of

passage or inserted by the clerk of the House of Delegates in

editing, compiling and publishing the acts of the Legislature, are

hereby declared to be mere catchwords and shall not be deemed or

construed to be titles of such chapters, articles or sections, or

as any part thereof, or as indicating or expressing legislative

intent or purpose.

Abstracts of bills or of changes proposed in existing

statutes, explanatory notes and declarations of purpose

accompanying bills at the time of introduction in the Legislature

or appended or attached thereto after introduction, and included

with copies of such bills printed or otherwise reproduced by the

Legislature or either house thereof, are hereby declared not to be

a part of such bills or of reports of committees thereon, and shall

not be construed or interpreted as indicating or expressing

legislative intent.





Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2015 Regular Session

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